The Washington Nationals continued their losing ways on Monday afternoon, and their west coast road trip has progressively gotten worse. They were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend with several late defeats, and things just did not improve on Monday as many would have hoped.
As the Nationals moved down south to San Diego to begin their series against the San Diego Padres, the team was on the prowl to end their losing streak. Of course, as already mentioned, they fell to the Padres by a score of 3-2, with the lone blow coming from a Dylan Crews 2-run homer that made the game a bit closer.
However, Monday's game was just another continuation in a series of tough days for the Nationals, who have not really gotten a ton of positive news in what feels like a long time. Part of that cycle of bad news was on the injury front, where the team got some news on an injured player that hadn't been previously known before.
Drew Millas facing another surgery after injury setback with finger
After initially going on the Injured List back in the middle of July, backup Nationals catcher Drew Millas is now facing another setback in his recovery from an injury to his index finger on his left hand, something that has hampered him for over a year now. While Millas has been out of action for a while now, former top catching prospect Harry Ford has been able to get a lot of runway in his absence.
The injury to Millas is something that had bothered him throughout this season, and was likely a big part of why the backstop struggled so much at the plate this year, as he was not even able to wrap his index finger around the bat. His hitting numbers were not up to the ability he had shown before, as he slashed just .185/.277/.262 with just a .539 OPS and an OPS+ of just 50.
Drew Millas is headed back to DC and will seek a second opinion, but it sounds likely that he’ll have another surgery on his finger.
— Spencer Nusbaum (@spencernusbaum_) September 5, 2026
Millas first had surgery on the finger in late August of 2025 and missed the remainder of the season, and he inadvertently re-aggravated the injury at some point earlier this year. He tried his best to play through it, but ultimately gave in to the pain back in July when he was placed on the Injured List. Millas will now head back to Washington to get a second opinion on the finger to see if the operation on the finger might somehow be able to be avoided.
Overall, it is an unfortunate development for Millas, who was initially thought of by many as a guy who could be a dark horse candidate to be the starting catcher coming into this year before Keibert Ruiz' resurgence. We will be hoping for the best for him as he continues to try to make things right with his finger before returning to the diamond.
When do you think the Nationals will see Drew Millas back at the big league level as he recovers from injury? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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